Control devices of this type can be used, for example, for internal combustion engines, in particular in motor vehicles. There, they are used, e.g., for actuating a wastegate of a turbine of an exhaust gas turbocharger or for actuating a variable geometry of an exhaust gas turbocharger. Furthermore, they can also be used for actuating an exhaust gas valve, or an exhaust gas recirculation valve, or a fresh air valve or for any other flap valve arrangement, in particular on the fresh air or exhaust gas side.
Typically, such a control device comprises a control drive and a coupling unit coupled on the drive side to the control drive for performing bidirectional control motions and designed for coupling on the output side to the control member to be actuated bidirectionally. The term “bidirectionally” comprises here linear motions as well as rotational motions, in each case in both directions, in particular to be able to displace the respective control member between two end positions. Advantageously, for this purpose, the coupling device can have a drive element on the drive side which is coupled to the control drive, while on the output side, it has an output element which can be coupled to the control member and which is coupled via a joint to the drive element in order to be able to transfer tensile and compression forces. Through this articulated connection between drive element and output element, tolerance-related position deviations between the linear control motion of the control drive and the linear control motion of the control member can be compensated. For example, such a joint can be designed as a ball joint having a ball head formed on the output element, wherein the ball head is mounted in a ball head bearing formed on the drive element and can be rotated in any desired direction.